Loom



March 7,1939. g, BOQK$ 2,149,724

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John C. BrooKsI March 7,v 1939. J, @BROOKS 2,149,724

" r LooM Filed Jan. 5,v 193s 2 sheets-shan 2 j I Fig. 2. v 3| |nvelno1. 1 LJQhn C. Brooks by@ MMZM. Anys.

Patented Mar. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES Claims.

This invention relates to looms and more particularly to hand operated looms used for instructing in the art of weaving and as toys for pleasurable and interesting occupation as a 5" pastime.

An object of my invention is to provide a loom the operation of which will engender and develop a creative impulse or advance a latent quality oi mind tending toward constructive efforts and skill. A further object of my invention is to provide a loom of above class, in which each heddle is adapted to be individually moved to raise and lower its respective warp thread at the will of the operator, thereby to form a warp shed between which to insert a weft thread, and form cloth.

To carry out these objects of this inventionv consists in the novel form of the heddles used, their arrangement and operation, as herein set 2()Y forth .and explained, the heddles being shown greatly enlarged.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front View with parts in section;

Fig. .2 is an end view with parts in section on the line X-X, Fig. 1, looking from right to left; Fig. 3 is a detailed end View of the operating levers and their control;

Fig. 4 is an illustrative design weave `for a combination plain, tabby and three and one, or 3u. four-leaf twill weave;

Fig. 5 is a detailed heddles.

The loom frame comprising side pieces A, B, posts C, D, cross girders E, F, warp beam G, cloth roller H, lay I and reed J all are or may be of the usual. construction.

Secured to side members A, B are vertical side pieces 5I and 52 connected at their upper ends by a cross piece 53 which is provided with suitable slots 54 to receive cord pulleys 55, 56 that are suported on a pin 5l.

In the upper end portions of the side pieces 5I are slots 58, 5S, through which project levers I0, II supported on a pin I2 held in I3 and I4 fastened to the cross piece 53 by bolts I5. Secured to the uprights 5I and 52 are rods I6 and I'I upon each of which are supported a group or plurality of heddles 66 of peculiar and novel construction.

Each heddle 66 has in its center length a slot I8, and the rod I6 extends through the slots I8 of all the heddles in one group, while the rod Il extends through the slots I8 of all the heddles in the other group. These rods I6, I1 serve to side View of one of the .guide the heddles in their shed forming movements.

Each heddle has a hookv eye I9 formed in its lower end, and a tension spring is engaged in each hook eye and connects each heddle to a hook 2| secured to a cross piece 22 that extends from the upright 5I to the upright 52. There are two such cross pieces 22, one for each group of heddles. Y

The tension springs 2l] are shown as rubber bands, but regular springs can be used. The hooks 2| are shown as located rearwardly from the heddles, the object of this position being to enable the tension springs 20 to perform the double function of holding the heddles down and causing the upper en-ds of the heddles to lean forwardly.

Formed in each heddle just above its slot I3 is a notch 23 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

The top portions 24 of the heddles are of a greater length than the proposed lift necessary to form the warp shed, and such top portions provide means by which the individual heddles can be manually manipulated as presently described. The iirst heddle of each group is, at its top 25, only half as thick as the next two heddies of each group.

In Fig. 1 the heddles are shown as designated by numbers I to 8, in two rows, the back row being the odd numbers and the front row being even numbers, thus making two groups of four heddles each. The heddles might, however, be divided into any number of groups as desired, and, for ready reading, instead of being numbered, they might be of diierent colors at their tops.

Fastened to levers I0, Il, are cords 26, 21, leading over pulleys 55, 56, and tied to heddlelifting members or knives 23, 29, resting in the notches 23, formed in the heddles.

Also formed in said heddles are warp eyes 36 to receive the warp threads.

Pivotally secure-d to the upper outside face of vertical piece 5I, Fig. 3, is a plate 3| shaped with legs 32, 33 having heels 34, 35, which vserve toV retain levers I0, Il when pressed down, and cause heddle-lifting members or knives 28, 29 with their respective heddles to be held inY a raised position. A pressure spring 36 fast on the end of the top piece 53 serves to control action of said plate 3l.

The warp threads L supported on rod 40, in bracket 4I, fast on rail B, pass through their respective heddle eyes 30, through reed J over rod 42, in bracket 43, fast on rail B and engage cloth roller H. It will be observed that in my improved loom each heddle is capable of an independent shed-forming movement and while means are provided for raising the heddles in groups, yet the construction is such that after any group of heddles has been raised any one or more of the raised heddles can be detached from the lifting bar, in which case such detached heddles will be automatically returned to their lowered position by the springs 20.

Operation: To weave a plain cloth known as tabby weave, the levers lil, il are alternately pressed down, which action forms warp sheds,

picks of weft being inserted and beaten up, all ink the well-known manner of weaving.

When, however, it is desired to weave some combination weave to produce an ornamented cloth such, for instance, as design, Fig. 4, having a stripe of twill and tabby ground, both levers are pressed down and held down by heels 34, 35 of plate 3 l; then for pick 1 of design, the heddles 4, 6 and 3 are pushed 0E the bar or knife 28, allowing the respective warp threads to drop and form a weft shed. A pick of weft is then inserted and beaten up. The levers are then released by pushing back plate 3i and again pressed down and heddles i, 5, 'l pushed from their knife or bar 29 and a pick of weft inserted, forming the second pick of the design.

The above action is repeated, the heddles being pushed off as called for by the blank spaces on the design. This illustrative weave has eight warp threads and eight picks of weft; thus the Weave is repeated every eight picks for the length of cloth made.

If the above weave was made with regular heddles and frames, it would require eight separate heddles on eight separate frames, eight separate levers with separate connections and a plate 3| with eight separate heels 34, 35, and for every pick of weft three of the levers would need to be shifted.

As a further illustration of the new advantageous merits of this invention, it may be stated that by simply using a different pattern design, or instruction chart, any weave can be woven at the will of theA operator without the usual rethreading of the warp threads and, or, rearranging of the harness.

While I have described in detail one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that changes in the size, shape and arrangements of parts made be made without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. In a loom, a plurality of groups of heddles, a heddle-lifting member for each group of heddles, a guiding rod for each group of heddles with which said heddles have a sliding pivotal engagement, manually operated means to actuate the lifting members, each heddle being constructed to be individually connected to or disconnected from its lifting member, and a spring acting o-n each heddle and tending both ot hold it in lowered position and to yieldingly maintain it operatively connected to its lifting member.

2. In a loom, a plurality of groups of heddles, each heddle having an open notch and a slot, a guiding rod for each group of heddles, each rod extending through the slots of the corresponding heddles, a lifting bar for each group of heddles, a spring acting on each heddle in opposition to the lifting movement of the heddle given to it by its lifting bar, each spring normally tending to maintain the notch of the corresponding heddle in operative engagement with the lifting bar, and manually operable means for raising the lifting bars, each heddle being capable of being manually swung on its guiding rod, thereby to disconnect it from its lifting bar independently of any other heddle.

3. A hand loom having a plurality of groups of heddles, a heddle-lifting bar for each group of heddles, each heddle having an open notch to receive its lifting bar and extending above the latter, manually operable means to raise each lifting bar independently of any other lifting bar, a releasable catch to hold each lifting bar in raised position, a guiding rod for each groupV of heddles, the heddles of each group having a sliding pivotal engagement with the corresponding rod, and spring means acting on each heddle in opposition` to its lifting movement and also normally tending to give the heddle a slight turning movement about its guiding rod, thereby to yieldingly hold the heddle in operative engagement with its lifting bar, the portion of each heddle extending above its lifting bar being accessible to the operator at the front of the loom for manually disconnecting said heddle from the lifting bar.

4. In a hand 100m, a plurality of groups. of heddles, a heddle lifting bar for each group of heddles, each heddle having an open notch in which its lifting bar is normallyy received and also having a portion extending above its lifting bar, a guiding rod for each group of heddles by which the heddles are guided in their vertical movement, manually operable means for raising each lifting bar independently of any other lifting bar, a releasable catch devicefor holding each lifting bar raised, and spring means actingY on each heddle in opposition to its lifting movement, the portion of each heddle extending above its lifting bar constituting means by which each heddle can be manually disengaged from its lifting bar.

5. In a loom, a plurality of groups of heddles, each heddle having a thread eye and an open notch above said eye, a lifting bar for each group of heddles, manually operable means for raising each lifting bar independently, a releasable catch to hold each lifting bar raised,guiding means for each group of heddles which guides the heddles in their vertical movement but permits each heddle to have a sufficient backward movement to be released from its lifting bar, spring means tending normally to hold each heddle in lowered position and also to hold the notch of the heddle in engagement with its lifting bar, each heddle having a portion extending above the lifting bar which can be engaged by the operator for manually disconnecting said heddle from itsl'lifting bar independently of any other heddle.

JOHN C. BROOKS. 

